Category: Mandala Art

I was so sure

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

“Painting is more about a way of not knowing, and of not knowing for as long as possible while still working.  It’s not something to brag about.  But it is very important to me and crucial, I think, to making good art.”

David Reed, artist/writer

I just read the quote this morning, and it felt very powerful to me and very appropriate.  It is from an article by Reed which appeared in the September issue of Art in America.  He is summing up what he learned from his mentor, the Abstract Expressionist painter Milton Resnick.

What felt so right to me was the idea “of not knowing for as long as possible.”  Of remaining open to the process of painting itself and getting out of my own way and free from my own mind.  To not over think.  Just to paint.  To feel lost, and then found, and then lost again until the painting itself tells me that its time to stop working and start looking at what I’ve done.  And then pause until it’s time to get lost and found again.

I was so sure that I knew where I was heading after completing the paintings I did over the summer.  Now I am not sure of anything.  Even making the mandalas can be filled with a new sense of potential.  On the edge, on the verge of “not knowing.”  So delicious!!

the word cloud for Mandala Design Works’ blog

by Stan Stewart - muz4now, posted in Mandala Art

Mandala Design Works word cloud

This is a representation of the use of words for the past few weeks on this blog.

(Click on the word cloud to see a larger version of it.
☟ Then, share it with your friends.)

it’s that time again

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

mandala sketchI am now back home after a really nice three weeks in DWG, though I did manage to bring a cold back with me.  So I’ve been resting and laying low. But yesterday I had some energy, so I began sketching out a possible design for a mandala commission that I’m just starting to work on.

Here’s the sketch I did.  I know that it doesn’t look like much now, but just wait.

And because, yes…it’s that time of year again, I will spend at least part of the day today sitting on the couch with Dennis watching football, but not necessarily listening to it. He, reading news on the computer or playing music.  Me, using the time to catch up on old issues of Bon Appetit, knit, play with baskets, or draw.

Today I will spend the time working on which colors to use for the new mandala.

Football and art!  Who would have thought?

Learning a new thing

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

Anita, Marci, Stan and I got together the other night to have one of our famous platter meals and to discuss Mandala Design Works stuff. To review our time at the jazz festival. To plan ahead for some shows in December, for instance the annual holiday show at Wellspring Holistic Center. And maybe most importantly to hear what Stan had to say about our website, our blog, and our presence on Facebook. I have just begun to embrace this blog thing, and now I learn that in order to be most effective, I really also need to insert links to our site and to other sites as I write my blog. So here I sit with Anita in Delaware Water Gap on Saturday night learning this new trick.

As always, loving the process of learning.

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Remembering

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

Being in Delaware Water Gap is not about making art, and I need to remember that. I always have high hopes of feeling creative while I’m here, hanging out in the space where I used to paint for so many years. There is a small area that I keep carved out in the room where I spent so many happy hours and that now functions mostly for storage. I always imagine that I will feel enticed to spend time in that room sitting at the drafting table drawing and painting small things. I keep paints, pencils, charcoal, paper at hand just in case, but it never seems to happen. So accept it, Susan, and release the feelings of self-doubt and guilt that go along with not creating for two or three whole weeks at a time.

Remember that being in Delaware Water Gap is about doing lots of Reiki, selling mandalas, showing paintings, seeing friends, listening to music at the Deer Head, taking walks, and having fun. It’s about reconnecting with my history, staying connected to so many people that I love, keeping my East coast energy alive and well. And that’s more than enough.

Seven years into this process, still loving the art of being bi-coastal.